Today, as a way of wrapping up our inquiry about author/illustrator Mo Willems (if you missed the first post, read it here), I asked our PK2 students to share with me something they learned about Mo Willems. It was amazing how many of his books they could mention (from Pigeon, to Piggie & Gerald, Knuffle Bunny and Cat the Cat) and how much excitement the mentioning of individual titles created in the group. They of course also stressed how funny his books are, how much fun they are to read. Most impressed I was though hearing some students share more in-depth knowledge (which we had gained from watching a video a couple of weeks ago):

He wants his books to be enjoyed by children and the adults that read the books to them.
He makes his books funny so that everyone enjoys reading them.
He makes different kinds of stories.
He wants to make children love to read.

In order to gain some more insights into his illustrating, we watched the following video in which Mo Willems explains why he draws his characters the way he does: he wants four-year olds to be able to draw his characters to be able to tell their own stories with his characters.

Next, we watched the tutorial below, to learn how to draw Piggie, one of Mo Willems' most beloved characters. Our students had so much fun with this!

I encouraged our PK2 students to show their drawings to you, to share something about Mo Willems with you, and to make up their own stories, just as Mo Willems suggested - and of course to keep reading his wonderful books. And I have no doubt, our young inquirers and readers will!

Below are a few more pictures of our young illustrators.

... and so do we (as you can easily see in the pictures above)! 

Throughout September, we have been reading books by this talented author and illustrator to our PK2 students to give them a taste of his creative work. There are so many wonderful books to share and have fun with: books about Piggie and Gerald, the Pigeon, Knuffle Bunny, Leonard the Monster, just to mention a few. Mo Willems' books are just perfect to kindle a love for stories and reading among our students. Besides the reading and enjoying of stories together, we also encouraged our students to share their wonderings with us, what they are curious to find out about Mo Willems. They wonder why he writes so many books, whether it is hard work to make a book, whether he enjoys making books, how he makes his books and - this is a questions that always comes up in the context of Mo Willems' books - why the Pigeon always seems to sneak into the Piggie and Gerald books too (our PK2 students are so observant). Together, we will try to find answers to these wonderings by exploring books and online resources, letting students in the process experience an inquiry process and practice inquiry skills.

This past Monday, the following video helped us to find out more about Mo Willems and introduced us to another series of his books. Also in this series, with just a few words and pictures, Mo Willems entertains readers of all ages. Indeed, all of his books are always as much fun for the person reading aloud (and performing) as they are for the listening audience. PK2 Parents, if you don't have any Mo Willems books at home and would love to give them a try, remember you are welcome to pass by the library to check them out. 

In addition to our read-alouds in English and the author inquiry of which they are a part, our PK2 students have also been enjoying story time in Mandarin during each library visit... 

... and of course, choosing books and sharing books with classmates. So much enthusiasm for stories and books among our PK2 students!